The British Labour party's new leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has indicated he thinks Britain should stay in the European Union.

Writing in the Financial Times, the newly elected leader has moved to end confusion over his stance on the so-called "brexit."

A referendum on Britain leaving the EU will be held in 2017.

But Mr Corbyn believes there should be reform, rather than a split from the Union.

He wrote, "we will be in Europe to negotiate better protections for people and businesses, not to negotiate them away."

Mr Corbyn won a landslide victory to be named the next leader of the Labour Party last weekend.

Although initially seen as an outsider to succeed Ed Miliband, who quit after the party’s disastrous election defeat, Mr Corbyn's anti-austerity pitch struck a note with many potential voters.

Earlier this year, the British prime minister David Cameron said his government would not be "neutral" during the in-out referendum campaign.

"We have a clear view: renegotiate, get a deal that's in Britain's interest and then recommend Britain stays in it," he said.

He also warned Eurosceptic ministers they will be forced to quit if they want to campaign for the UK to leave the European Union, adding that "if you want to be part of the Government, you have to take the view that we are engaged in an exercise of renegotiation to have a referendum that will lead to a successful outcome."